Forgotten wartime shipwrecks

Littering the sea floor like discarded toys these are the forgotten shipwrecks of the Atlantic Ocean dating back to the First World War .

The liners were sunk by torpedoes and mines and now lie on the seabed, just off the Irish coast.

Among the wrecks are merchant vessels, submarines and ocean liners, with HMS Audacious being the oldest ruin. HMS Audacious sank in October 1914 after hitting a German mine.

All but one passengers survived after Titanic’s sister ship, the White Star liner Olympic, came to the rescue. Also lying on the seabed is HMS Viknor, an armed merchant cruiser which sank without sending a distress signal with all 295 Royal Navy officers on board.

Remarkably, the wreck was not found until 2006 even though it met its fate on January 13 1915 and now rests under more than 250 feet of water.